Information AboutYajur Veda |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT YAJURVEDA | |
| vedas | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
|
The ''Yajurveda'' ( Sanskrit '''', a Tatpurusha compound of '''' " Sacrifice " + ''veda'' "knowledge") is one of the four Hindu Veda s. It contains Religious texts focussing on liturgy, rituals and sacrifices, and how to perform the same. The Yajurveda was probably written around 900 BCE. COLLECTIONS There are two primary collections or ''samhitas'' of the Yajurveda: Shukla (white) and Krishna (black). Both contain the verses necessary for rituals, but the Krishna Yajurveda has additional prose commentary and detailed instructions within the work itself. Krishna Yajurveda There are four Recensions of the Black Yajurveda:
The best known of these is TS, named after Tittiri, a pupil of Yaska . It consists of 8 books or ''kandas'', subdivided in chapters or ''prapathakas'', further subdivided into individual hymns. Some individual hymns have gained importance in Hinduism , e. g. TS 4.5 and 4.7 correspond to the Shri Rudram Chamakam , and 1.8.6.i to the Shaivaite Tryambakam mantra. The formula '''' prefixed to the ( Rigvedic ) Gayatri mantra is also from the Yajurveda, appearing four times. Each of the recensions has a '' Brahmana '' associated with it, and some of them also have associated Shrautasutra s, Grhyasutra s, Aranyaka s, Upanishad s and Pratishakhya s. In particular the Taittiriya Shakha (or branch) of the Krishna Yajur Veda is the most prevalent shakha in Southern Bharat . Among the followers of this Shakha, the Apastamba Sutras is the common Shrautasutra associated with the Shakha. The Taittiriya Shakha consists of Taittiriya Samhita (having seven kaandas), Taittiriya Braahmana (having three kaandas), Taittiriya Aaranyaka (having seven six prashnas), Taittiriya Upanishad (having three prashnas or vallis- Sheeksha valli, Ananda valli and Bhrigu valli) and the Mahaanaarayana Upanishad. The Taittiriya Upanishad and Mahaanaarayana Upanishad are considered to be the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth prashnas of the Aaranyaka. Note: The words prapaathaka and kaanda (meaning sections) are interchangeably used in the Vedic literature. Prashna and valli refer to sections of the Aaranyaka. Shukla Yajurveda The Shukla Yajurveda has two recensions:
The former is popular in North India and Orissa and is by far the largest Vedic tradition followed among Hindus in the country in terms of population. The Kanva Shakha is restricted to Kerala and Tamila Nadu. Jagadguru Adi Shankara is said to have followed this recension. The Vedic rituals of the famous Ranganathaswamy Temple, the biggest temple in India, are performed according to this Shakha. Vedic traditions have it that Yajnavalkya had serious differences with his teacher Vaishampayana , from whom he had been studying the Yajurveda collections. On one occasion, Vaishampayana was so enraged with Yajnavalkya that he asked him to return all the knowledge acquired from him. Yagnavalkya vomited out whatever he had learnt, in the form of flesh. The other disciples of Vaishampayana assumed the form of ''tittiriya'' birds and ate the flesh, eager to receive the knowledge. Thus, the work came to be called the Taittiriya Samhita (eaten by tittiriya birds). - After having vomited out the knowledge acquired from his teacher, Yajnavalkya worshipped the Sun God Surya (also known as Aditya ) with great penance. Pleased, Surya taught Yajnavalkya new portions from the Yajurveda. These portions were collected under the name Shukla Yajurveda The Shukla Yajur Veda is also prominent for its two great and the Brihadaranyaka . The latter is the biggest of all Upanishads and is also considered to be ''Upanishad Shreshtha'', or the most refined of all Upanishads. LARGE NUMBERS The Yajurveda documents the earliest known use of numbers up to a trillion (''parardha''). It even discusses the concept of numeric Infinity (''purna'' "fullness"), stating that if you subtract ''purna'' from ''purna'', you are still left with ''purna''. {Link without Title} See also: History Of Large Numbers . LITERATURE
EXTERNAL LINKS
|